Small change, big difference

The main obstacle to increasing the number of apprenticeships is getting employers to ‘buy in’ to the idea that investing in training and skills could make a big difference to their business and to the lives of their workers. Public procurement is the ideal tool to encourage organisations to develop their apprenticeship plans, writes CATHERINE MCKINNELL

in the press as saying that the problems of the employment market could be solved in a simple way: ‘The north may replace the Romanians in the cherry orchards … and that may be a good thing.’ Well, I don’t agree and over the last few

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months I have been working in Parliament on a cross-party basis to create a solution that will provide a more positive option for the future of skills and employment, both in the North East, where I have my constituency, and across the UK. My Ten Minute Rule motion to introduce the Apprenticeships and Skills (Public Procurement Contracts) Bill passed to its second reading with unanimous support from all members present in the chamber on 14 September 2010. The bill aims to introduce a requirement

that when awarding contracts public auth- orities must ensure that successful bidders

16 ADULTS LEARNING JANUARY 2011

ast month Buckinghamshire councillor David Shakespeare, the leader of the Conservative group on the Local Government Association, was quoted

demonstrate a firm commitment to skills, training and apprenticeships. In effect, it seeks to enshrine in legislation a requirement to comply with the Office of Government Commerce guidance (OGC), Promoting skills through public procurement, bringing into play the unique leverage of public sector procurement to promote skills, jobs and training opportunities, particularly important in the current economic climate.

Procurement policies The guidance published by the OGC in April 2009 aims to encourage government departments to address skills and apprentice- ship issues through their procurement policies. My bill looks to build on those guidelines, ensuring that organisations help to develop skills in their workforce through these large- scale public contracts. The bill would help to develop training and apprenticeships for young people and adults as well as helping to enshrine a culture of lifelong learning and development throughout organisations.

The economic case is clear. Expanding

access to apprenticeships will help to bridge the current employment and skills shortfall. It is particularly important in the current financial climate to ensure that for every pound of publically funded investment, those profiting from it are giving something back. With an annual expenditure in 2008- 09 of £175 billion, public procurement is the ideal tool to encourage organisations to develop their apprenticeship plans. And despite the more austere climate, this will still provide a weighty incentive for organisations, and an ideal carrot to encourage more apprenticeships. The bill has drawn widespread support

from across the political spectrum and endorse- ment from the TUC, the Federation of Small Businesses, the Association of Colleges, the National Union of Students and a range of other unions and employer organisations. This month it also received the backing of

Lord Sugar, former Government Enterprise Advisor, who said: